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Bibimbap on Korean Air
real bowl and spoon and everything! you could hear people clanking about when eating, it was great. Finally have a free weekend to myself so I am doing a lot of updates!
From May 10-18, I went to the Philippines to visit my lola and also to meet up with my parents who were coming in from America. I went to the Philippines a few days before my parents got there. Flew Korean Air which was great, loved having bibimbap on the plane. There was also free wine, but didn't feel like having any. I definitely want to fly Korean Air to America (when I go back) if I can because they have great food and service.
Over the weekend, I went shopping with my cousin, Marie Chedd and her mom and I got a barong. We planned on taking a family photo wearing traditional Filipino clothes and I wanted something I could bring back to Japan too. Originally I was going to have something made, but it was pretty easy to find a ready made barong.
Parents came on Tuesday at 3am and were really tired, but later that night we had our family party at my uncle's house. A lot of May birthdays in the family so we decided to celebrate together. All
Patricia and Rosa
I was treated like a jungle gym...I felt like I was at elementary school all over again. I thought I was on vacation, yet still surrounded by children! It was fun though, a good workout! the usual suspects and of course a lot of videoke later. The next day we went to Lucban to watch the preparations for the Pahiyas festival. They have this festival every year and it's really famous in the Philippines, but none of us had ever been there! Pagbilao, where my mom is from is only about 45 minutes away. Got the whole gang (parents, lola, tita) and went there together. My dad had a few errands to run so we went with him while Lola rested at the hotel. We happened to be at the right place because there was a parade! My dad was showing me where his Lola's old house used to be. Lucban was his old stomping grounds as a child and he would visit it with his other siblings in the summer time. So the day before the festival there was a parade and I think there was a contest for different dance groups and for the different floats. It was fun watching, especially with my dad's goddaughter's new baby, Bastian.
We had dinner that night at Msgr. Tony's house and that night we went on a walk around town to see people preparing for
Apat na Maria
Tita Menchie and the Defeos the festival the next day. It was really cool to see it all come together. Dad and I pushed Lola in her wheelchair so she could enjoy all the preparations too. On the day of the festival, it rained a lot! In the morning we went to my dad's cousin's house for breakfast and ended up staying there for awhile because it was raining. We got soaked when we left and had to try to run because Lola was going to get wet in the wheelchair. What a sight it must have been to see my parents and I running down the street, umbrellas over Lola's wheelchair. For lunch we went to Buddy's, had some great pancit Lucban and later that afternoon we did more walking around to see the houses. It was too bad that it rained, but it was still definitely worth it.
We came back to Pagbilao on Friday and right as we got back, we had to prepare for the family photo shoot! It wasn't the best idea to have it in the middle of the day when it was so hot, but what are you going to do? Everyone got dressed up in their
Bastian
loved his hair finest barongs and Lola had her new dress on. We did several shots, I felt like I looked old in my makeup and slightly old fashioned styling of my hair, but yeah as my mom said "Anong akala mo, bata ka pa?" (Did you think you were still young?). I'm waiting for the final photos from my parents since they organized it all after I left. I did see the proofs and we looked pretty good!
The big event of the weekend was my parents' 40th high school reunion. That night, my mom's section (Section 3, Hep, hep....HOOORAY!) had their own mini event to welcome the members of their class who were coming from overseas. It was fun to meet my mom's classmates again and just chill. We had Buddy's pancit delivered and it was great...hahaha. They all remember me when I went to my parents' reunion about 20 years ago...needless to say, it was a little hard for me to remember all of them as I was 6 years old at the time. It was still really fun though.
The next morning, we went to church at Maryhill Academy in Lucena. All the graduates of the class
Dancing in the streets
parade the day before the Pahiyas festival of '68 met there. After the mass, we had a motorcade to their old high school, Quezon Provincial High School (now called Quezon National High School). The afternoon's program was set to be in the gym. Man, it was sooo hot there! Mostly because there was no air circulation and the roof was made of these iron sheets which made it even hotter. The food was all right, I didn't feel like eating much because again we forgot to bring our bottled water with us. I didn't want to drink soft drinks all afternoon. By the end I think we were all a little dehydrated. So the program called for lots of speeches and reminiscing. There was also a class call where each section called out the members of the class and they all took a photo together. They also had some of their former teachers there and they shared some of their memories of their students.
I was set to leave for Japan that evening so we left the festivities at Quezon High and I got ready! It was hard to say goodbye to my lola because she started saying things like oh when will I see you
one of the many floats
check out all the fruits and veggies! again and will I still be around when you come back. I am really glad that I got to spend so much time with her during this trip. After Grandma died last year I realize that my lola in the Philippines is my only lola left and I should try to spend as much time with her as I can. I also wish I could have spent more time with Grandma and it is still hard for me to think that almost two years ago when I said goodbye to her in Fremont before I left for Japan that that was the last time I would see her.
So! I said my goodbyes and gave my parents some last minute advice on their trip to Japan the next week and headed off to the airport in Manila. On the way, the car had a bit of a malfunction. There's apparently this ball that filters the gasoline and it was clogged, causing the car to jerk forward and kind of stall. Luckily we stopped somewhere to have it cleaned and then headed on our way again. It was a bit rough at first, but later the car started going at
Kiping!
and egglants, tomatoes, and chilis, so colorful! its normal pace again. We even had time to stop at my favorite fast food place, Jollibee, and I got my spaghetti with one piece chicken meal. Got to the airport with plenty of time before my flight and I just hung out and read the People magazines I bought.
Had another stopover in Incheon, but arrived at 6am so nothing was open. I watched some TV and decided to take a nap. Bad idea....I woke up with a start and then realized that my connecting flight to Japan was boarding! In fact it was on its Final Boarding Call. I rushed to the gate and made it! I wasn't even the last to board, thank goodness. It was still a really close call though, at least I napped near my gate. Gaaaah!! I'll set an alarm the next time I decide to nap in an airport.
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NILDS
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touching with your roots
hi precious. bal yujuico and i did a feature on you when you were 6 in our class '68 souvenir magazine. the years have really piled up. i always remember you as a child prodigy. it's sheer joy to get in touch with you again as agrown up, no matter how briefly. it's good to keep in touch with your filipino roots.